T

he US Embassy in Jakarta expressed on Thursday its concern over many’ “misperceptions” of US intentions in Indonesia, emphasizing that the US has no hidden agenda whatsoever.

The misconceptions, according to US Ambassador to Indonesia Scot Marciel, are among the greatest challenges the US is facing in Indonesia.

“In Indonesia, I think the biggest challenges we still face are misperceptions, weariness or even suspicion of the US; some of them going back to the 50s, some are linked to how we deal with Islam and these sorts of things. Whatever the facts are, the misperceptions are very clearly there,” Marciel said during a discussion with The Jakarta Post in its office in Jakarta.

He denied accusations that the US harbored “hidden agendas” in Indonesia, specifically raising the issue of conflict-ridden Papua, where US mining giant Freeport-McMoran has been operating for decades and has been accused of being one of the catalysts behind the sources of bloody conflicts recurring in the province. He said most Americans barely paid any attention at all to the Papua-Freeport issue, let alone act as players in the conflict.

“Why would we want to create problems in Indonesia? Anything that causes turmoil here, or God forbid, any kind of separatist movement that hurts Indonesia also hurts international interests and our interests.” Marciel said that to address the issue, the US Embassy in Jakarta had been continually trying to put forward  transparency in its activities in Indonesia, hoping Indonesians would gradually become convinced that there was no hidden US agenda.

The US-Indonesia ties have been growing stronger over the past few years since US President Barack Obama’s rise to power in 2008.

The US president spent part of his childhood in Jakarta and has visited Indonesia twice now — in 2010 and 2011. His visits have brought more attention to Indonesia, in the US and across the world. This is apart from Indonesia’s rising influence at the global stage due to its membership in the G20 economic group. Marciel admitted it would be more difficult to maintain US-Indonesia ties if Obama was no longer president after the 2012 US presidential elections. He expressed, nevertheless, optimism that ties could remain strong given a post-Obama scenario, given the signing of the comprehensive partnership agreement between the two countries during Obama’s first Indonesian visit in November 2010.

“To me the real goal of [the comprehensive partnership] is to build a network of relationships, not just government-to-government, but between universities, businesses, NGOs, newspapers — so that the links are strong and you don’t depend on having a president who has a special relationship here.” Marciel added that to further strengthen the relationship, the US had been trying to boost the number of Indonesians studying in America, after it was down by half following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

He said the US Embassy in Jakarta was also continually trying to improve the visa application process for entering the US, while bringing along US universities, scholars and scientists to Indonesia to strengthen educational cooperation between the two countries.